Wednesday, 10 February 2010

The new Aga went in today, she is gorgeous. Lovely glossy, sleek and sophisticated. Take a look for yourselves:

So, once it has stopped crying (it generates a lot of condensation when first warmed up apparently!), and smelling like a new cooker, I can activate "AIMS" (the energy-efficiency module) and get baking! First cupcakes should be out tomorrow, yippee!

Click on the link and enter a few simple details, then tell the UK what it is that you love about Little Cake Factory's cupcakes. Not only could you win a fantastic prize each day (hence, "14 Days of Love"), you would be helping Little Cake Factory's future success by spreading the word(of love).

Small businesses really do depend on this type of viral marketing, we don't have huge budgets for advertising (actually I don't have one at all any more) and our businesses thrive on great customer feedback and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Poetry really was never my thing - I might even be tempted to offer a free Valentine's cupcake to anyone who can come up with a better "roses are red..." poem (there, the challenge is set).

For those of you following Aga-watch, Aggie the Aga has now been turned off, sniff! She's cooling down in readiness for being "capped off" tomorrow and then taken away to Aga-heaven on Thursday. I've had a very turbulent relationship with her over the years. There have been days when I've slammed her doors shut out of anger and also days where I've been comforted by her cosy warmth but she has always been there for me - cupcakes and all!

Monday, 18 January 2010

Well, I can't promise to shift those pounds but I like to make it easier! A good friend of mine gave me a wonderful book by Harry Eastwood as a Christmas gift. "Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache" has provided me with some fantastic post-Christmas inspiration. The cupcakes (tried and tested) are packed full of taste with less of the fat. The recipe omits butter and wheat flour and replaces it with ingredients that make you go "mmm"!

So far my DD has consumed a record three-in-a-row and once you pass the toddler-test, you know you're onto something good. Put these lower-fat cupcakes in a cupcake-calorie line-up and you would be hard-pressed to identify them as the healthier alternative!

Orders are being taken now so if you fancy a not-so-naughty treat, or know someone who would love a guilt-free gift then please contact me at orders@littlecakefactory.co.uk or 01483 535300.

Meanwhile, if someone could invent a device that could prevent me from saying "yes" to so much classified advertising then I'd be grateful.

Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Well this weekend saw a first for Little Cake Factory. Wake cupcakes. Initially I was unsure of how to go about decorating cupcakes for what I assumed would be a sad sombre event however I was given free reign to go over the top with the cupcake sparkles so I did just that!

I hope the cupcakes were fitting for the event - I enjoyed making them, it isn't often you can go OTT with colours, sprinkles and so on - they were pretty!

Wedding orders are flooding in - it would appear a lot of you became engaged over Christmas and New Year - congratulations to you all! Do get in touch for a wedding cupcake quote - or even to see if I have a particular date free, 2010 is proving to be busy so far - exciting.

My new years' resolution was to BE FIRM with the classified ad sales people. Perhaps it is because I once worked in classified ad sales but I am a bit of a sucker for little printed ads - get a GRIP though - enough is enough - this is money I could be spending on snazzy new cutters! On a positive note I have sent off a lovely wodge of paperwork to my accountant in time for the tax return deadline woo hoo.

Oh, not that it is at all cupcake-related in any way whatsoever but here's the view from Little Cake Factory in the snow last week - nice hey? Glad the snow is finally melting, I have some postal cupcake orders to catch up on... even "Omen" cathderal looks less imposing!

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

At the time of writing I am wondering if I will ever be able to leave the road I live on again - such is the volume of snow outside right now - still falling. Perhaps inspiration for snow-cone cupcakes...

Just wanted to update you on two new happenings at Little Cake Factory - soon to be announced on the website so you're the first to hear:

We are developing a "no-so-naughty-new-year" cupcake variety to be added, for a limited time only, to our menu. And no, that doesn't mean you can consume twice as many as the regular variety.

We are upgrading our two-oven Aga to a three-oven Aga - yes... even more cupcakes! Whilst I will be sad to see my beloved 20-year old oven dismantled, I am really excited to meet my new kitchen-companion - she'll have a thermo-regulator and everything ha ha... This means that our kitchen will be out of cupcake-baking action for approximately 5 days - dates to be announced on the website soon.